Road America: Owen Kelly preview

AUSTRALIAN OWEN KELLY TO MAKE NASCAR DEBUT
Owen Kelly becomes the ninth Australian to race in a NASCAR championship
division and follows in the footsteps of fellow Tasmanian Marcos Ambrose,
who has used his similar background in karting, Formula...

AUSTRALIAN OWEN KELLY TO MAKE NASCAR DEBUT

Owen Kelly becomes the ninth Australian to race in a NASCAR championship
division and follows in the footsteps of fellow Tasmanian Marcos Ambrose,
who has used his similar background in karting, Formula Ford and V8
Supercars to great effect to claim two Nationwide Series wins at the
Watkins Glen road course since moving to NASCAR in 2006. Kelly is the
third on the all-time Race Wins tally for the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series,
the second-tier series for V8 Supercars, just as the Nationwide Series is
to NASCAR, with 13 race victories. The 33-year-old has also raced many
times in the top-tier V8 Supercar Championship Series, with a best result
of third place in the 2005 Sandown 500.

BAKER CURB ENGINEER GARY GROSSENBACHER BRINGS ROAD RACING EXPERIENCE

Gary Grossenbacher, the engineer for Owen Kelly's No. 27, worked
with the best known Road Race sports car team in the country, Holbert
Racing, from 1986 to 1989. The team competed with the Porsche 962, the
most famous race car in its time and for many people still ranks as the
most famous and most prestigious sports car of all time. During his time
with Holbert Racing the team won 2 IMSA championships and 18 races,
including Road America. Grossenbacher was also a part of two 24 hours of
Daytona victories.

OWEN KELLY ON MAKING HIS NASCAR DEBUT

"Making my NASCAR debut with Baker Curb Racing, a top-level
Nationwide team, is a great opportunity for me. I've ran V8
Supercars for 10 years and they are very similar to the Nationwide cars.
Marcos Ambrose also came from V8 Supercars and he's done a pretty
good job in NASCAR, especially on the road courses. If I can do half as
well as he has it will be a good start for me. I'm not going to
set any hefty goals. I want to make sure that I complete all the laps,
keep the nose clean and avoid incidents. I think If I can follow that
plan and put myself in a position for a top 10 at the end of the day it
would be great for my first start in NASCAR."

OWEN KELLY ON ROAD AMERICA

"I've never been on Road America but I've watched a lot
of IndyCar races there on television and I've raced at some very
similar tracks in Australia. I've spent a lot of time on iRacing
over the last few weeks to get acquainted with the layout of Road
America. That might sound a little strange, but it is more realistic
than you might imagine. It has been very helpful for me to get use to
where the corners and curbs are. The course has a lot of right-angle
corners, and some very fast stretches. It is similar to Phillip Island in
Australia where I have raced a lot."

OWEN KELLY AND DALE JR.

"Marcos Ambrose introduced me to Robert Pressley and I came over
and ran a few late model races for Robert. Dale Jr. was in Melbourne for
a V8 Supercar race and I ended up having a couple drinks with him. We
struck up a friendship and after that, I ended up coming over to
Charlotte and running about 60 late model races for Jr. Motorsports. It
was really a great experience but with the way the economy has been it
didn't turn into anything more because of lack of
sponsorship."